Mountain areas are faced with a range of new problems in the context of rapid globalization and economic liberalization. There are visible incompatibilities between the driving forces and operational mechanisms of market-driven globalization and the imperatives of mountain conditions. Thus, selective overextraction of resources in response to market signals and narrow specialization that disregard local diversity are incompatible with the fragility, inaccessibility, diversity, and marginality of mountain regions. The negative impacts of globalization and new trade policies on local production systems are already visible in many parts of the Hindu Kush–Himalayan region, and niche markets with comparative advantages for mountain regions are disappearing. There is a need to adapt to the changes brought by globalization. A few key areas in which new approaches could minimize the negative impacts and harness the positive opportunities associated with globalization are outlined below for the attention of policymakers.

The poverty-stricken mountain areas in South Central China face many challenges on the road to sustainable development in the 21st century. Great progress has been made in alleviating poverty in the past decade: while 15 million people in these areas suffered from extreme poverty in 1989, this number decreased to about 6 million by 1996. Cereal production during the same period increased from 50 to 397 kg per capita. But to break away from poverty and raise the standard of living, the region must now enter a new stage of development. It needs to benefit from the transition taking place from a planned economy to a market economy, especially with respect to new domestic market conditions. There is also a need to raise awareness of the requirements for sustainable development strategies in mountain areas. This will involve industrialization of agriculture, increasing the quality of products in the primary and secondary sectors, developing the service sector, improving infrastructure for transport and trade, and letting the market determine resource use rather than vice versa. The following introduction to the region and its problems is complemented by recommendations for enhancement of economic strategies in the mountain areas shared by Chongqing Municipality and the provinces of Hubei, Hunan, and Guizhou and linked by the Yangtze and its tributaries.

Much of El Salvador's crop production is in mountainous areas with gradients over 15%. The main crops are shade-grown coffee, sugar cane, citrus and other fruit trees, and staples for local consumption, including maize, beans, rice, and sorghum. The latter are produced on small-scale subsistence farms in mountainous zones (0.3–2 ha per farmer) characterized by intensive use of the soil and a lack of conservation practices (Figures 1, 2). Until now, most rural development projects have used incentives to mitigate the effects of the resulting environmental degradation. Records for Central America show that approximately 86% of soil and water conservation projects use incentives. Nevertheless, it is rare to observe spontaneous diffusion and medium- or long-term adoption of the technologies promoted through incentives on a significant number of farms or larger areas. Most technologies are implemented locally by a few farmers and are abandoned as soon as the project terminates. Therefore, efforts are now being made in Central American countries to institute payment for environmental services (PES).

The economic behavior of campesinos has long been a prominent issue in development debates. Models used to explain economic behavior have generally been based on the theoretical assumptions of specific (Western) schools of thought. Consequently, economics is determined by the theory that informs a particular study without considering the meaning that campesinos impart to the economy as actors in a social context. For example, barter, reciprocity, and transformation are far more relevant forms of economic activity than production for market. An actor-oriented approach that is not based on preconceived, nonlocal concepts can therefore be helpful in reconstructing “internal” concepts that allow new inputs for reflection, thereby contributing to innovative economic approaches and activities in development programs.

Biosphere reserve models around the world are becoming increasingly people-oriented and conservation-conscious in achieving their objectives. However, reserves established in developing countries, such as the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve in India, are facing management versus people conflicts due to the insensitivity of management to both genuine and irrational demands coming from people who are motivated by potential economic benefits. The present case study focuses on the issue of crop and livestock depredation by wildlife as a major source of conflict. Feasible solutions in the given socioeconomic context are outlined here; some of these are being tested by the authors in the study area. The results are expected to provide more sustainable livelihood measures and stimulate greater participation in conservation programs.

The recently established Kanchenjunga Conservation Area Project (KCAP)—jointly managed by the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC) and World Wildlife Fund (WWF)—is based on the principles of the new participatory concept of nature conservation. The main objectives are to protect the unique environment of the Kanchenjunga region and to help local communities improve their standard of living. This study focuses on existing livelihood strategies and local institutions as well as on the local population's perception of the participatory approach. A theoretical consideration of the different concepts of nature and conservation is regarded as helpful in understanding locally observed processes. The results show wide diversification in the economic system that contributes to sustaining livelihood. Various local institutions have established governance over particular resources. With regard to the KCAP, it became obvious that nearly all interviewees had expectations that went far beyond the intended and economically feasible potential of the project. This is largely because they do not entirely comprehend the principal aim of “conservation.” On the other hand, most of the local people believe that conservation of nature is necessary in their region and that it is only possible through a joint effort made by everyone in the community.

Most landscapes in Chiapas were recently subjected to a change in land use that has caused various environmental problems in a highland-lowland interactive system. In the Soconusco coastal plain, cash crops with long dry fallow periods caused a decline in precipitation, whereas in the lower escarpment of the Sierra Madre, coffee plantations with unshaded cultivation in rows and inputs of herbicides reinforced major hydrological fluctuations. While these impacts have been reduced during the last decade, demographic pressure in the upper part of the Sierra Madre and in the Altos de Chiapas, resulting in a growing need for land, is responsible for advancement of the frontier of settlement into steeper parts of the Sierra and toward Lacandonia. The resulting soil erosion and leaching cause further degradation, and, together with elevated runoff rates, also have a heavy impact on the forelands. This was evident in September 1998 in the form of disastrous floods and devastation in the Soconusco plain.

This paper presents results from studies in 4 mountain regions in East Africa, 2 in Ethiopia (Simen Mountains, Bale Mountains), and 2 in Uganda (Rwenzori Mountains, Mount Elgon). The focus is on the ericaceous vegetation that forms the (upper) treeline ecotone at all sites. There is little evidence for climatic control of the patchy appearance of this belt in all afroalpine environments. Since traces of former fires were observed in all ranges, repeated burning is most probably responsible for the present appearance of the ericaceous vegetation in East Africa. The fires observed were almost exclusively lit by local people, who utilize the afroalpine zone for poaching, livestock grazing, and honey hunting. Although these fires are man-made and not strictly natural, they help to maintain a structurally and biologically diverse environment.

The regional land use system in northern Pakistan is based on irrigated crop cultivation on valley floors, combined with animal husbandry and forest utilization in the upper altitudinal belts. Local communities subsist on this agropastoral economy to a considerable extent. Environmental conditions and the ecological risks of resource utilization are intimately linked in this high mountain region. Rapid population growth, a corresponding increase in pressure on natural resources, and the consequent danger of environmental degradation raise questions about sustainable resource management in relation to contemporary land use and land cover change. The present study investigates vegetation changes and the development of land use patterns in the Nanga Parbat region (Northwest Himalaya) using matched pairs of photographs. A comprehensive collection of historical landscape photographs, taken by members of the German Himalaya expeditions of 1934 and 1937, forms a valuable baseline data set for the area. Recent fieldwork made it possible to reproduce a number of these photographs from viewpoints identical to the earlier ones. Direct comparisons illustrate change and persistence in the cultural landscape over a span of 60 years. The development of the cultural landscape is characterized by the enlargement of settlements and the expansion of cultivated areas in most valleys. On a local scale, intensified irrigation has led to an increase of groundwater-dependent thickets along the water channels and below the cultivated terraces. The montane coniferous forests are characterized by gradual decline, though change is drastic in some places due to local overexploitation. The submontane Pinus gerardiana and Juniperus semiglobosa forests in the vicinity of the villages and near the lower timberline have been seriously degraded.

The influence of reindeer pasturing on high mountain ecosystems in northern Norway was investigated using a landscape-ecological analysis. The most visible impacts of overgrazing are on the vegetation. In addition, soils and humus have been changed due to morphodynamic processes induced to a large extent by reindeer pasturing. Degradation of the high mountain landscapes within the last 30 years is described on 3 spatial levels: large-scale effects at specific localities, linear effects along reindeer fences, and small-scale effects on the altitudinal zonation of entire mountain systems. The structure of the ecosystem has changed completely due to reindeer pasturing, which has resulted in landscape degradation under great pasturing pressure. The processes that influence the ecosystem as a function of different pasture intensities are described and show a complex correlation and interaction between the ecofactors. These include destruction of vegetation cover, reduction of root density, erosion of humus and mineral soil horizons, reduction of soil moisture and soil stability, and changes in plant species composition. On the whole, degradation leads to a depression of the altitudinal belts, indicated by the new organization of the ecosystems. It can be concluded that reindeer herding at current levels is a destructive form of land use in the northern Norwegian high mountains and hence is not sustainable. The author believes that destruction of the natural environment could be reversed, although this is not to be expected.

Natural mixed forests of European beech (Fagus sylvatica), Norway spruce (Picea abies), and silver fir (Abies alba) were widely replaced by spruce-dominated stands in the montane belt of the northern Calcareous Alps in historical times. This accounts for changing forest structure, diversity, and hemeroby. Observations in other parts of Europe suggest that this development should have led to a replacement of the native understorey vegetation by species typical of coniferous forests and to an increase in plants that are indicators for acidity and nitrogen. The statistical relationships between understorey vegetation structure and species richness, Ellenberg indicator values, and the proportion of Norway spruce in the tree layer were studied in 84 stands selected in a stratified random design in the Bavarian Alps, while controlling for the influence of the natural environment. The results show that the richness of coniferous forest species and the occurrence of acid indicators have been significantly favored by Norway spruce canopies, while understorey species characteristic of deciduous forests and nitrogen indicators have not been affected. While bryophytes and some shallow-rooted vascular plants respond positively to a coniferous canopy, most vascular plants are resilient to changes in the canopy. This can be attributed to the high buffering capacity of the soils under the mountain forests studied.